Wednesday, October 24, 2012

I've been reading a blog trend with the topic "Date a girl who.." so I decided to write a slightly similar version.Date a guy who invests in the Philippine market
Date a guy who has a passion for investing; a guy with goals, targets and a direction in life. He's a decision maker, he knows what he wants in life and if he wants you, he wants you for good.

Date a guy who appreciates the value of money. He won't always have the latest gadgets nor constantly treat you in a fancy restaurant, but he dreams of bigger things for the both of you. He plans to give you your dream home where you and your future family will be more than comfortable. When he sees you having a hard time walking when you're in your heels or gets frustrated going to a certain place especially during rainy nights, he'll save and invest for a car for the both of you.

He might not be very good with fashion, but he will be more than happy to take advice from you as long as the price of clothes is within the budget. He knows that the finer things in life need money and he wants to give them to you. He'll be busy making money grow instead of flirting with other girls.

Date a guy who invests in the long term. He understands the bigger picture of your relationship. He knows that there may be bad times, but in the long run you'll still be happy together. He will trust and love you and won't be affected much by jealousy; ok, maybe just a little, but it's just for making lambing :)

Monday, October 22, 2012

My trading account in First Metro has been approved! I can start trading as soon as I fund my account. It requires a minimum of P25,000 to start a First Metro account. If you want to know if investing in stocks is for you, then read on. But before anything else, be sure you're ready to start investing in any kind; you may want to read the "before getting started" entry if you haven't done so.

In my previous post, I talked about Mutual Funds where your money belongs to a bigger collection of fund managed by an expert. Now, if for some reason you feel like you can beat the best fund manager out there, AND you have the TIME to do it then this is for you. You really need to have time to do this, and preferably a reliable internet connection during trading hours (more on this later). It is strongly suggested that you attend seminars before you jump into trading stocks. As for me, I'll take my chances and jump into it right away. Experience is the best teacher anyway; I want to experience it first-hand. I'll also seek guidance from my finance mentor.

Only put money that you are willing to lose, especially when you're just starting (like me). You need to be financially and emotionally prepared to lose big or in worst case lose it all, and I mean from P25,000 to P0. It is said that trading stocks is like gambling, but it is only gambling to people who don't do research or consume knowledge. As always, you can mitigate risks when you equip yourself with knowledge. On the bright side, the risk is high because the potential to gain is also high.

Let's first define what is a stock. From Investopedia, a stock is a type of security that signifies ownership in a corporation and represents a claim on part of the corporation's assets and earnings. So in a basic sense, you're buying a part of the company and you become "part owner" of that company. "Part owner" is in quotes because it takes a lot of money to have a major role in a company that you bought stocks from.

Sunday, October 21, 2012

This October, I started investing in First Metro Assets Management Inc. I chose Save and Learn Equity Fund (SALEF); the minimum amount to invest is P5,000.

From the word itself "mutual", meaning it's shared. Mutual Fund is a collection of funds gathered from investors which is then handled by a manager. The manager is called "fund manager". The idea is that you are entrusting your money to a person who is, in most cases, more knowledgeable than you are in investing it to different security options like stocks, bonds, etc.

The advantage of this is that your money belongs to a pool which is big and has a buying power far greater than yours. This means that the investment is diversified and has greater potential to earn more. This is realized more if you don't have a huge amount of money to invest (e.g. you're starting with 5,000 Pesos). Your money is basically riding on the collected funds. Another advantage is you don't have to worry about it minute by minute or even day by day since you're not the one managing the fund.

Thursday, October 18, 2012

If you're a working middle class like me, or a rich kid who doesn't want to depend on your family's wealth, or an employee who has a hard time saving, this is for you. This is a prelude to getting started with investing; like a quick checklist before you put your money where it will work for you.

Many say that business is where the money's at (or "Nasa negosyo ang pera"), and many condescend people who work their ass off to earn money. Being an employee doesn't mean that you can't become a millionaire on your own. Everyone has his or her place, whether you enjoy having a business or you're happy being an employee, it doesn't matter. What matters is that you find contentment in what you do, and you can use your existing income to generate more money.

But before you can be a millionaire, it is wise that you develop a mindset that will increase your success rate towards financial freedom. Let's start with the basics first. The following are the things you may need to contemplate upon before you start putting your money in different investment instruments.

Thursday, October 11, 2012

I'm not 100% sure what it means, but market rally is basically a good thing for investors because prices go up.

By Wikipedia definition of a "rally" in terms of Stock Market:
A rally is a period of sustained increases in the prices of stocks, bonds or indexes. This type of price movement can happen during either a bull or a bear market, when it is known as either a bull market rally or a bear market rally, respectively. However, a rally will generally follow a period of flat or declining prices.

Tuesday, October 2, 2012

Last week I put some of my money in Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas' Special Deposit Account (BSP SDA) through BPI. SDA started in 1998. It's a product of BSP aimed to mop excess liquidity in the financial system which is said to be bad for the economy (I haven't dug that deep yet). It offers higher interest rate compared to other low risk investments like time deposit.

The rates now are lower compared to previous years, it seems that BSP is starting to control the in flow of money to this product. Even with the lowered interest rates, it's still much better than any bank's time deposit (TD) and, of course, way better than just putting your unused money in a savings account.

Monday, October 1, 2012

This site is still under construction. For now, allow me introduce myself. I'm Manny. As of writing, I'm 27 years old and I'm working as a software developer in the Philippines for 6 years. I enjoyed the money I earned during my first years, mostly spending it to travel, having fun and drinking beer.Now that I'm starting to settle down, I need to be more responsible with my finances. Let's equip ourselves with knowledge and increase financial literacy so instead of working hard for money, you make your money work for you.

I will try to build this website up from research to help fellow Filipinos who are newbies in this area to be more aware that there are resources out there (free and paid) that you can take advantage of in learning how to invest your money wisely.

I got interested in investment because I didn't know about these things before. And now that I know something about, I want to share the knowledge and continue my research. Makes me wonder why these things aren't taught in schools; it should be, it makes people wiser about their money.

To get started, research first about the various investment options available in the Philippines plus their corresponding risks. There's UITF, Mutual Funds, Stocks, Bonds, etc. Also research why putting all your money into a savings account of a bank is a dead investment.